CTIA 2006: Bob Marley's Burnin'

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Hudson fires up a soccer- and music-themed game based on the reggae legend.

By Levi Buchanan

At CTIA today, Hudson Entertainment was showing off an updated build of Bob Marley Burnin', a musical mini-game collection that plays on the late musician's love of soccer. There are two games in Burnin' - the first is a kicking game where you power-up a kick and launch a soccer ball through the air. To keep the ball aloft, you must bounce it against a musical note, not entirely unlike I-play's Skipping Stone. The game uses licensed Marley music, so you must time the bounces with a musical note that moves up and down a scale with the current tune. The second game is a juggler, where you keep a ball aloft through a series of kick and head butts while moving from side to side.

Honestly, my impression at E3 earlier this year - where I first saw Burnin' - left me wanting. The game seemed too simplistic. However, I think the inclusion of licensed Marley music is a great service to fans and the first mini-game - the soccer ball bouncer - is a lot harder than it sounds. Admittedly, I struggled with the timing at the show. It didn't help that the din of CTIA completely drowned out the music, but timing the bounce to a moving note seems like a nice advancement on the concept introduced in Skipping Stone. I'm now looking forward to spending a little more time with the game, to further test out this section of Burnin'.